hof residence studio granda

Building a contemporary modern home in a traditional rural setting is a design problem that challenges architects over and over again. The best solutions, such as this mountain home example by Studio Granda, often involve a close attention to the site as well as to materiality. Even at a glance, it is easy to see that this structure is at once a new design but also that it blends in well with its surroundings.

modern rural home

Concrete and cedar cladding on the outside of the house provide an aged, weather and rustic look that makes the composition seem suitable for the semi-dried green grass below and semi-bare mountains in the background. The green roofs also connect the building back to the ground around it while the staggered volumes relate visually to the mountain chain behind it.

interior details

Inside, matte steel detailing, heavy oak structural elements and asymmetrical stone tile floors continue the themes of strength, durability, and rustic style alongside modern lines and volumes. Geothermal in-floor heating, hydroelectric power and thick walls make this also a sustainable design as well as a stylistic mix of modern and green.

spiraling skylight

“The existing assemblage of buildings on the estate included a house, church, barn and cowshed clustered on a riverbank. Further inland are recently constructed horse stables. The wide fjörd has a mountainous rim punctuated with long valleys embracing the cliff islands of Drangey, Málmey and the graphic foreland Þórðarhöfði. The new residence is slightly removed from the old cluster on raised ground, with each room and space orientated to capture this magnificent panorama.”

modern bathroom
hof residence siding detail

“Although dramatic views fill the interior the ambience is augmented by a secondary system of clearstory lights and other roof penetrations that orchestrate daylight throughout the house. The exception is the dogleg route between the living and bedroom wings where lighting is reduced to a few pinpricks.”